


Trial and Error

by Cameron_McKell



Series: Upon Further Review [53]
Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types, Tron (Movies), Tron - All Media Types, Tron: Legacy (2010)
Genre: Crossovers & Fandom Fusions, Food Issues, Gen, Non-Human Humanoids, Not Avengers: Age of Ultron (Movie) Compliant, Tron vs. Food
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-28
Updated: 2016-12-28
Packaged: 2018-09-12 18:29:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 512
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9084562
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cameron_McKell/pseuds/Cameron_McKell
Summary: (Originally written for ikiracake on Tumblr, now archived on the AO3.)
Tron's not designed to take in energy the way Users do, so there are difficulties. The Avengers try to help.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Written after the release of Captain America: The Winter Soldier but before the release of Avengers: Age of Ultron.
> 
> The premise of this story is based on a headcanon of mine, in which Tron can only stomach a very small number of User-world foods (because as a program, he's built to take energy in as electricity or as Digital-World liquid energy).

One of the first steps of the Science Bros’ Scientific Food Method was breaking something he _could_  eat into its component parts, which took a bit of time. The first thing they tried (as in, the easiest to acquire) was a spoonful of the monosaccharide glucose in syrup form.

Tron made a _terrible_ face at it, and completely mystified the pair of them for a solid week.

After seeing Bruce and Tony’s lack of success, Clint offered Tron a bowl of unflavored popcorn, juice from a habanero chile, black licorice, salted cod, arugula salad, a sour cherry pastry, almond butter, and as a joke because of something Sam Flynn mentioned in passing, a pint of motor oil. Sure, Clint wasn’t a  _genius_ or anything, but he was pretty good at spotting patterns, so tried to hit as many major flavor types as possible (salty, sweet, sour, bitter, hot, nutty, anise-y) and a couple different grains (corn and wheat).

Tron had had to physically remove himself from the almond butter, even before he could taste it, and Clint had to remove  _himself_ when Tron tried - and seemed to like, or at least not  _dislike_ or completely avoid - the habanero juice and motor oil,  _and then mixed them together._

Everyone who heard about it became equally traumatized, so they all agreed that those ones didn’t count.

At this point the Science Bros tried again, this time with esters. They failed, unfortunately, but were treated to the strange sight of Tron’s eyes ‘watering’ as he fled from the lab, leaking two thin trails of liquid energy which still noticeably glowed, even in their bright surroundings.

Steve’s success was sort of an accident; he’d heard about the bad reaction Tron had had to the last attempt, and came by to apologize for the Science Bros and make sure the program was okay. Tron assured him he would be fine, but Steve offered to help him wash the remaining esters out of his eyes with the sprayer attached to the kitchen sink.

Steve helped Tron get situated at the sink - even though the water occasionally makes an odd sizzle noise if it splattered onto a circuit - and resumed making lunch while watching over him. There isn’t a whole lot to do while rinsing out one’s eyes, so Tron eventually ended up asking about the peculiar but pleasant smell in the kitchen.

And so, after Tron’s eyes have been thoroughly cleaned out, he tried his first bite of an old Irish stew that was probably about half cabbage, with a bit of barley, potato, and tallow.

When Sam Wilson came by to accompany Steve to a meeting in a couple hours, he found the two of them talking over soup about Steve’s mother making something delicious out of nothing like a human SHIVA laser analogue, in a room that practically  _reeked_  of cooked cabbage.

“Man, you weren’t kidding about the ‘boiling everything’ bit, were you?”

Steve just smiled and offered Sam a bowl; Sam pretended to make a fuss for a moment, but joined them with a smile.


End file.
